Yoga Fire, a European coincidence

By Pablo Escobedo
@pabloescobedo on Twitter

Getting to be nominated to be the best band in Europe for MTV last year was arguably a twist of fate for the rock band Yoga Fire.
Alis, bassist, recalls that before entering to the world of the guitars and drums the band was a hip-hop quartet called Klovner i Kamp. "One day we had an invitation for a tribute to rock legend in Norway. We thought it was best tribute to him like a rock band, but none of us had done it before, so it sounded horrible", says Yoga Fire bassist (www.yogafire.no).
From that presentation, four years passed. "When we started, we played punk because it was all we could do. We had to play three-chord songs, then the boys improved in their instruments and we could do something more sophisticated", says Alis.
Yoga Fire last year won the award for best artist in their country, Norway, and were nominated for best band in the Old Continent. However, there is a long way to achieve worldwide fame. "Over the past four years we had to pay for our videos and records. Just this summer we could make some money, but for the past, we can say it was a hobby", says the musician.
Singing in Norwegian can also mean a barrier on their way to the global popularity, but they feel that otherwise, their songs would not be the same. "We were the first rap group in singing Norwegian and I think that was part of our success. With the rock we made songs in English but we felt that we expressed to us as we wanted and returned to Norway. We believe that is good in our country, but we may never be worldwide famous".
Alis describes his band with influences of White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age and Turbonegro. "But while we are in a rock band, also continue to hear hip hop", he adds.
Due to its origin of hip hop and quirky presentations, the press came to pigeonhole into a false group. However, the award and the nomination at the MTV Europe Music Awards gave them credibility. "It was very important to us because journalists thought they were doing as a joke, but things changed", says Alis.
Currently the group is recording its next album and planning a tour of Europe and the United States. "Do not try to be arrogant or act as super stars. We feel that we are a group of people who do what to have fun", he conclude Alis.

This article was published in the newspaper El Economista.